Meeting Your Child for the First Time: What to Expect
You may have been led to believe that "love' and "rapport" magically occur upon the first meeting of your child. Or you may have seen a television report on intercountry adoption that featured an airport lounge festooned with banners and balloons and smiling adoptive parents cooing over their newly arrived babies. This is the silk from which adoption mythology is spun. The truth is upon your first meeting, your child may be frightened and unresponsive, or overly excited and hyperactive. You will want to keep the meeting as low key as possible: with mom receiving the baby or child; then cautiously introducing dad and siblings. Get as much information as possible from the caretaker: eating habits, sleeping schedule, any medications, special fears, fever or diarrhea symptoms, etc.Don't be surprised at your initial feelings for the child -nor his for you! In your respective states of emotional or physical exhaustion, you may not feel immediate affection and tenderness toward each other. Reality tends to fall short of expectations, particularly when you have eagerly awaited some big event for a long time.
In the weeks that follow as your child plays with his toys, smiles at you, calls you Mama and Daddy, the "happy, full of fun" child, you were hoping for, will emerge.
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